Matt Kemple is a busy man. When he’s not producing theatrical events and comedy showcases at the Underground Collaborative (which he founded and manages), he’s booking nationally known comedians like Godfrey, Nick Thune, Neil Hamburger, and Andy Kindler at venues around town as part of his Milwaukee Comedy endeavor. This August, Milwaukee Comedy Festival—which Kemple founded and produces—will turn 11 years old. Later that month, he’ll co-produce the inaugural Milwaukee Fringe Festival, which he co-founded as well.
Matt Kemple is a full-time live-events producer, public speaker and creative consultant with a background in comedy, marketing, and the performing arts. He is the Founder and Executive Producer of Milwaukee Comedy, LLC, the regions largest independent comedy production company which also presents the annual Milwaukee Comedy Festival, and also Co-Owner of The Laughing Tap comedy club. With 20 years of experience, Matt produces hundreds of unique live comedy events annually at venues across the Greater Milwaukee area.
The Laughing Tap In January 2020 along with his two business partners Kaitlin and Greg, Matt opened The Laughing Tap comedy club in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood. The club quickly gained a reputation for high quality comedy acts. Featuring national headliners along with regional and local comics, The Laughing Tap presents the best in quality live stand up comedy every week – over a hundred live comedy shows every year!
Milwaukee Comedy Festival Matt is the Founder and Producer of the annual Milwaukee Comedy Festival, Wisconsin’s largest multi-day comedy event, and one of the longest running comedy festivals in the United States. Featuring hundreds of performers at nearly a dozen different venues, The Fest has featured top-notch national stand-up comedy, improv, and sketch comedy with alumni from Comedy Central, Saturday Night Live, Netflix, Hulu, Conan, Late Nite, Mad TV, Adult Swim, and many more.
Past Experience and Notable Projects Matt has aided in creating a dozen different theatre and arts companies, multiple programs and events with emphasis on new and emerging artists, Co-Founded three different city-wide festivals, constructed close to a dozen different performance spaces, and managed hundreds of live performances, events, and shows in a career spanning more than 20 years.
Matt was a founding Co-Producer of the annual Milwaukee Fringe Festival, a performing and visual arts festival that takes place at The Marcus Center for the Performing Arts in Downtown, Milwaukee. The Fringe presents various dance, music, theatre, and performance art performances each summer.
The Underground Collaborative, a unique arts venue and rental space in the heart of Downtown, Milwaukee, was founded and managed by Matt in 2012. ‘The UC’ rented spaces for theatre and arts groups for rehearsals, meetings and performances and offered performers a place to produce shows and present art in a welcoming and affordable environment. In 2018 alone, The UC supported the arts scene by helping present more than 280 events, shows, seminars & workshops to over 10,000 people. In May 2020, The Underground Collaborative, a unique arts venue and rental space in the heart of Downtown, Milwaukee, closed after 8 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Underground Collaborative served 1000’s of artists and 10’s of thousands of patrons of the arts in its 8 year history.
